Chapter 56

Chapter 56: The Feeling of an Affair Grandfather? Teasing his granddaughter? It was strange. Although the Empress hadn’t fully processed the situation, her mind reflexively equated "grandfather" with the Emperor. As for "granddaughter"? She faintly heard laughter and followed Consort Hua’s pointing finger to catch glimpses of a pink figure flickering among the branches and leaves. This area was near Suiyu Pavilion. Could that be—Zhen Huan? Even when ill, she couldn’t stay quiet. No wonder Consort Hua cursed her as a slut all day! The Empress noticed a rockery behind her, perfect for concealment. She pointed toward it, signaling: Why don’t we go over there? It was closer, making it easier to hear clearly. Nian Shilan rolled her eyes at her. [The Dog Emperor is about to come from behind there to push that slut Zhen Huan on the swing. If we go over, won’t we be exposed?] Just then, the Emperor emerged from behind the rockery. He stood silently behind the swing. Several days earlier, the Emperor had been drawn by Zhen Huan’s flute playing. Her address of "Prince" had felt like the return of a long-lost acquaintance, making him forget Nian Shilan’s Xinsheng and the fact that this was a woman who would influence the fate of the Great Qing. His heart was left only with his late wife, Wanwan. At that time, she stood in the apricot blossom shadows, dressed in plain clothes, as if she had never left or had finally returned after a long absence. Perhaps this was fate. During the selection of consorts, he hadn’t wanted this woman to enter the palace, but she did. After entering the palace, even when Consort Hua suggested bestowing her with the Title of nobility "Wan," he hadn’t agreed and instead assigned her to the most distant palace. He had severed his emotions and silently altered everything. Was it Heaven’s mercy, pitying him, that allowed him to reunite with Wanwan? That day, the flute’s mournful melody, like weeping and lamenting, wasn’t her longing for home—it was him reminiscing about the past. At that moment, he had only wanted to call out: "Wanwan, is it you? Have you returned?" But in the end, reason pulled him back. "I’ll push you in a moment." Zhen Huan, seated on the swing, said to Liuzhu behind her. "Alright, I’m not afraid of anything." Liuzhu’s crisp voice replied. She gave two pushes, noticed the Emperor, and the Emperor gestured for silence before taking over to push Zhen Huan. [How strange. Even if he claimed to be a prince, Liuzhu shouldn’t have let go and allowed this prince to push her mistress, especially since they’d only met once!] [She didn’t even warn her mistress, letting a strange man touch her like this. Hmph, truly, like mistress, like servant!] But at this moment, in the Emperor’s eyes, Zhen Huan was not Zhen Huan. She was Rouze. It felt as if he had returned to over a decade ago, meeting his beloved for the first time. [Look, the moment the Emperor thinks of his youthful days with his sister-in-law, he instantly looks over a decade younger.] For the Empress, it was a sorrowful memory, but the moment Consort Hua mentioned "sister-in-law," she inexplicably felt like laughing. Brother-in-law and sister-in-law—what an extraordinary… forbidden love! The Emperor was so immersed in his playful world with "Chunyuan" that he didn’t notice the faint rustling of Nian Shilan’s Xinsheng nearby. Zhen Huan faintly heard some movement and turned to look—"Prince Guo"! Her voice held a hint of alarm: "Prince?" "If you’re afraid, come down," the Emperor said. [So the affair began today!] [Sluts will be sluts. He said he was Prince Guo, and you believed him. How could you forget you’re one of the Emperor’s Imperial consorts and concubines?] [Letting your brother-in-law push you, his sister-in-law, without any sense of propriety—even if the Great Qing fell, you shouldn’t act so recklessly!] 【So the top scholar of the harem, while still in her boudoir, only remembered to study poetry and forgot to learn etiquette?】 【Shameless!】 【Pah!】 【No wonder she said in private, "There is a difference in status between him and me, how can there be talk of a good match?"】 【She even stayed up late playing the zither for her brother-in-law, saying something like "My thoughts are with someone far away," not even avoiding her own father's name!】 【No wonder Zhen Yuandao later faced imprisonment!】 【Even a maid who knows nothing about rules reminded her she shouldn't meet her brother-in-law, yet she thought, "I am just an unattended Attendant living in seclusion, I don’t even know what the Emperor looks like, but I still won’t have any relationship with Prince Guo."】 【This red apricot has clearly already climbed over the wall, just because she’s the protagonist, this counts as daring to rebel?】 【Hah, spit!】 The words were crude but the reasoning wasn’t wrong, though spitting was rather uncouth. The Empress couldn’t help but brush her shoulder, as if she had actually been spat on. The Emperor was enjoying himself wildly, and Zhen Huan was swinging with delight. "Higher~ higher~~ higher" 【A dashing prince and a charming sister-in-law.】 【What a heartwarming scene of familial affection~】 The Empress didn’t know when the Emperor and Zhen Huan’s "illicit affair" began, but judging from Consort Hua’s Xinsheng, the Emperor was currently pretending to be a prince to secretly meet with Zhen Huan. Truly a diligent and benevolent Emperor, even willing to put the cuckold’s horns on himself. 【As if you haven’t eaten in five hundred years, I told you to go higher, why don’t you push harder? Just send her flying, wouldn’t that be great?】 As if he had really heard, the Emperor pushed harder, and the swing soared over the high branches, Zhen Huan letting out a sharp "Ah~" scream. 【Listen to that scream, how excited it must have made the Old Man?】 "..." The Empress glanced sideways at Consort Hua: she really dares to say anything! At that moment, the swing swung back, and the Emperor embraced Zhen Huan from behind. 【Oh a brother-in-law hugging his sister-in-law, the thrill of an illicit affair, so exciting~】 Nian Shilan inwardly mocked to her heart’s content. Zhen Huan, frightened, stumbled forward a few steps before immediately crouching down to bow. "Greetings, Prince." Her heart pounded like a drum, and she looked around nervously, afraid someone might see. The Emperor held the swing’s ropes, looking at her like a startled little white rabbit, and said dotingly: "Weren’t you just like a heroine among women a moment ago? Now you’re scared?" "This Consort has been improper, This Consort did not know the Prince liked to stand silently behind people?" 【They say the Emperor has a clever tongue, but This Consort thinks yours is even cleverer!】 【Quite skilled at shifting blame, were the restless spirits of the Forbidden City possessing you when you were on the swing shouting for the Prince to go higher, higher?】 【A proper woman should have stopped the moment she saw it was a strange man.】 【You...】 Nian Shilan truly despised her behavior, 【shameless!】 Listening to Nian Shilan’s relentless stream of thoughts, the Empress truly worried she might not be able to hold back and rush out to give each of them a hard slap.